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caged-Verbindungen (engl. cage Käfig) sind chemische Verbindungen, die bei Bestrahlung mit Licht bestimmter Wellenlängen eine andere Substanz freisetzen. Die deutsche Übersetzung Käfigverbindung für diese Stoffe ist im wissenschaftlichen Sprachgebrauch nicht üblich.

Das Hauptanwendungsgebiet der caged-Verbindungen ist die biochemische und zellbiologische Forschung. Biologisch aktive Verbindungen werden mit einer photolabilen Schutzgruppe ("cage") ausgestattet und verlieren somit temporär ihre biologische Funktion. Mittels Lichteinstrahlung wird die photolabile Schutzgruppe irreversibel abgespalten und die zuvor inaktive Verbindung weist wieder eine biologische Aktivität auf.

Caged-Verbindungen werden dazu verwendet, Effektoren zu einer bestimmten Zeit an einem bestimmten Ort freizusetzen, wenn deren direkte Applikation schwierig (z. B. im Inneren einer Zelle) oder zu langsam ist, um die gewünschte Konzentration am Wirkort zu erreichen. Die inaktive caged-Verbindung kann sich dagegen auch durch langsame Diffusion am Ziel anreichern und bei anschließender Belichtung eine genügende Menge Effektor in kurzer Zeit freisetzen. Durch die Verwendung von intensiven Blitzlampen oder Lasern ist es möglich, einen biochemischen Prozess, z. B. eine enzymatisch katalysierte Reaktion oder eine Signalübertragung, sehr schnell zu starten (Piko- bis Millisekunden).

Als erste biochemische Arbeit mit caged-Verbindungen wird oft eine Publikation über caged-ATP von J. H. Kaplan et al. aus dem Jahr 1978 genannt, aber schon kurz vorher hatten J. Engels et al. die Synthese und Anwendung von durch Licht freisetzbaren cAMP beschrieben.

Anwendungsbereich von caged-Verbindungen
Heute werden caged-Verbindungen für viele verschiedene Zwecke verwendet.

Mit ihnen kann man u. a.
 Substrate für Enzyme freisetzen und die anschließende Reaktion des Enzyms zeitaufgelöst verfolgen,
 Signalmoleküle in einer Zelle freisetzen und beobachten, wie diese auf das Signal reagiert,
 die Expression von spezifischen Genen an- oder abschalten.

Anforderungen an caged-Verbindungen
Caged-Verbindungen sind photolysierbare Verbindungen, d. h. sie gehen bei der Bestrahlung mit Licht eine chemische Reaktion ein. Damit sich eine photolysierbare Verbindung als caged-Verbindung eignet, muss sie mehrere Bedingungen erfüllen:

 Stabilität. Die unbelichtete Substanz sollte stabil sein. Wenn eine caged-Verbindung bei der Lagerung oder in Lösung auch ohne Belichtung langsam zerfällt, so wird oft die eigentlich inaktive caged-Verbindung mit dem aktiven Effektormolekül verunreinigt. Das kann die Interpretation von experimentellen Ergebnissen stark verfälschen.
 Biochemische Inaktivität. Die biochemische Funktion des Effektormoleküls muss durch die Verknüpfung mit der photolysierbaren Gruppe möglichst vollständig unterdrückt werden.
 Geeignete Photolyseeigenschaften. Drei Parameter sind hier wesentlich:
 Geschwindigkeit. Die photolytische Freisetzung des Effektors aus der caged-Verbindung sollte viel schneller ablaufen als der Prozess, der durch das Effektormolekül im untersuchten System ausgelöst wird. Nur dann kann auch eine Aussage über die Geschwindigkeit des Folgeprozesses gewonnen werden.
 Spezifität. Nach Belichtung sollte möglichst nur eine photochemische Reaktion der caged-Verbindung ablaufen, so dass keine Nebenprodukte entstehen, die nicht die gewünschte oder sogar keine Wirkung zeigen.
 Effizienz. Die Spaltung der caged-Verbindung sollte mit so wenig Licht wie möglich ablaufen. Die Effizienz der Photolyse hängt von zwei Faktoren ab. Zum einen sollen möglichst viele der Photonen, die in die Probe eingestrahlt werden, auch von der caged-Verbindung absorbiert werden. Dazu muss der Extinktionskoeffizient ε der caged-Verbindung für die verwendete Lichtwellenlänge hoch sein. Zum anderen sollte jedes absorbierte Photon auch tatsächlich eine photolytische Spaltung bewirken, d. h. die photochemische Quantenausbeute Φ muss ebenfalls hoch sein. Eine effiziente photolysierbare caged-Verbindung ist daher durch ein möglichst großes Produkt εΦ gekennzeichnet.
 Lichtabsorption bei Wellenlängen größer als 300 nm. Viele Biomoleküle, darunter Proteine und Nukleinsäuren, absorbieren UV-Licht bei Wellenlängen um 260–280 nm. Wenn die caged-Verbindung ebenfalls in diesem Bereich angeregt werden muss, so filtern andere Probenkomponenten bereits einen Teil der für die Photolyse benötigten Strahlung und können dadurch selbst Photoschäden erleiden. Aus diesen Gründen ist eine Lichtabsorption im längerwelligen Spektralbereich wünschenswert.
 Geringe Reaktivität und Toxizität der Reaktionsprodukte. Bei der photolytischen Spaltung entsteht nicht nur das gewünschte Effektormolekül, sondern auch eine Verbindung, die sich von der photolysierbaren Gruppe selbst ableitet. Dieses sollte möglichst keine weiteren Reaktionen eingehen und ungiftig sein.
 Gute Löslichkeit der caged-Verbindung und der Reaktionsprodukte.

Struktur
Obwohl caged-Verbindungen keine einheitliche chemische Stoffklasse bilden, gibt es zwischen ihnen strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten. Meist bestehen sie aus zwei Molekülteilen: dem freizusetzenden Zielmolekül, auch Effektormolekül genannt, und einer photolysierbaren, d. h. durch Licht abspaltbaren Gruppe, dem "cage". Diese photolysierbaren Gruppen sind verwandt und z. T. identisch mit den photolysierbaren Schutzgruppen, die in der organischen Synthese verwendet werden. Die chemische Bindung zwischen den beiden Molekülteilen wird durch einen photochemischen Prozess bei der Bestrahlung mit Licht geeigneter Wellenlänge aufgebrochen.

Ein Beispiel ist caged-ATP (Adenosin-5'-triphosphat-P3-(1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethyl)-ester): das Nukleotid Adenosintriphosphat ist mit der photolabilen Nitrophenyl-Ethyl- (NPE-) Gruppe modifiziert (Abb. 1). Dieses caged-ATP kann nun mit der sarcoplasmatischen Calcium-ATPase – einem Muskelenzym, das ATP als Substrat benötigt – gemischt werden, ohne dass es mit diesem reagiert, denn die angehängte NPE-Gruppe verhindert, dass das Enzym das modifizierte ATP erkennt. Durch die Bestrahlung mit UV-Licht wird die NPE-Gruppe abgespalten, und das freigesetzte ATP kann nun mit dem Enzym reagieren. Wie sich das Enzym bei der Reaktion mit dem ATP verändert, kann dann z. B. infrarotspektroskopisch untersucht werden.

Heute gibt es eine große Vielfalt von caged-Verbindungen, sowohl die freigesetzten Effektormoleküle als auch die verwendeten photolysierbaren Gruppen betreffend.

Effektormoleküle
Die Einteilung der Effektormoleküle kann danach erfolgen, welche chemische Funktionalität zur Anknüpfung der photolabilen Gruppe verwendet wird. Angehörige einer Stoffklasse können häufig durch ähnliche Syntheseverfahren mit ähnlichen photolysierbaren Gruppen versehen werden. Gängige Stoffklassen sind: Carbonsäuren, Phosphorsäureester, Alkohole, Amine, Carbamate, Thiole, Ketone, Aldehyde.

Auch eine Einteilung nach der Funktion des freigesetzten Effektormoleküls ist möglich. Einige Verbindungen können dabei in mehrere der folgenden Stoffklassen eingeordnet werden:

 Nukleotide, z. B. Adenosintriphosphat (ATP)
 second messenger, z. B. cAMP, Inositoltriphosphat, Stickstoffmonoxid, Calciumionen
 Neurotransmitter, z. B. Glutaminsäure, γ-Aminobuttersäure
 Peptide und Proteine
 Oligo- und Polynukleotide, DNA und RNA
 Fluoreszenzfarbstoffe, z. B. Fluorescein
 caged-"Protonen" (oder Hydroxidionen), d. h. die caged-Verbindung bewirkt bei Photolyse eine Verschiebung des pH-Wertes der Lösung
 caged-"Elektronen", d. h. die caged-Verbindung setzt bei Lichtanregung ein Elektron frei und wirkt damit als Reduktionsmittel

Photolysierbare Gruppen
Eine Reihe von photolysierbaren Gruppen haben sich für die Herstellung von caged-Verbindungen als günstig erwiesen. Diese sind in der Abb. 2 dargestellt. An der mit E markierten Position sitzt der Molekülteil, der als Effektor abgespalten wird.

 2-Nitrobenzyl-Derivate (a): Vorteile der Stoffklasse sind die gute synthetische Zugänglichkeit und die gut verstandene Photochemie. Nachteile sind eine z. T. schlechte Wasserlöslichkeit, ein Absorptionsmaximum im kurzwelligen UV-Bereich des Spektrums, eine langsame Photolyse und reaktive Nebenprodukte (2-Nitroso-Benzophenone). Trotz der Nachteile sind die meisten der kommerziell erhältlichen caged-Verbindungen 2-Nitrobenzyl-Verbindungen.
 Cumarinyl-Derivate (b): Vorteile sind eine starke Absorption im längerwelligen UV-Bereich, z. T. sogar im sichtbaren Teil des Lichtspektrums, eine meist sehr schnelle Photolyse und ein ungiftiges Nebenprodukt. Nachteilig ist eine oft niedrige photochemische Quantenausbeute, die aber z. T. durch den hohen Extinktionskoeffizienten ausgeglichen wird.
  p-Hydroxyphenacyl-Derivate (c): Vorteile sind die gute synthetische Zugänglichkeit, die gute photochemische Quantenausbeute und die schnelle Photolyse. Nachteilig ist, dass diese Verbindungen Licht nur unterhalb von 320 nm nennenswert absorbieren, ähnlich wie Proteine und Nukleinsäuren.
 Benzoin-Derivate (d): Vorteile der Benzoinderivate sind hohe Quantenausbeuten, schnelle Photolyse und ein inertes Benzofuran-Nebenprodukt. Nachteilig ist die starke Fluoreszenz von letzterem, die bestimmte optische Detektionsmethoden stören kann. Weiterhin kann die Chiralität des Benzoins problematisch sein, weil die beiden Isomere der entstehenden caged-Verbindung unterschiedliche Eigenschaften haben können, z. B. bei der Bindung an Enzyme.
 1-Acyl-7-Nitroindolin-Derivate (e): Zu dieser Verbindungsklasse gibt es nur wenige Beispiele. Ein Vorteil der Klasse ist die schnelle Photolyse, nachteilig eine niedrige Quantenausbeute.

Um die Eigenschaften einer caged-Verbindung zu verbessern, können die aufgezählten photolysierbaren Gruppen strukturell modifiziert werden. Verschiedene Substituenten an den mit R gekennzeichneten Stellen können z. B. das Absorptionsmaximum der Verbindung in einen günstigeren Bereich des Lichtspektrums verschieben oder die Wasserlöslichkeit verbessern. Auch der Effektor, der mit der photolysierbaren Gruppe verknüpft werden soll, hat einen nicht immer leicht vorhersehbaren Einfluss auf die Eigenschaften der entstehenden caged-Verbindung.

Neben den genannten Verbindungsklassen gibt es noch eine Reihe von speziellen caged-Verbindungen, die sich darin nicht einordnen lassen (Abb. 3). Dazu gehören u. a.:

 reversible Photosäuren, z. B. 8-Hydroxypyren-1,3,6-trisulfonsäure (f). Diese geben bei Belichtung ein Proton in die Lösung ab und nehmen nach dem Abklingen der Anregung wieder ein Proton auf. Damit bewirken sie eine vorübergehende pH-Verschiebung in der Lösung.
 Komplexverbindungen des Cobalts (g) dienen als caged-Sauerstoff.
 Komplexverbindungen des Rutheniums finden als caged-Elektronen (h) oder caged-Stickstoffmonoxid Verwendung.

Mechanismen der Photoentschützung
Die vom Licht ausgelöste Reaktion der caged-Verbindung kann grob in drei Schritte gegliedert werden.

Zunächst absorbiert die caged-Verbindung ein Photon und geht damit in den elektronisch angeregten Zustand über.

Danach findet der eigentliche photochemische Prozess des angeregten Zustands statt. Die dabei ablaufenden Reaktionsmechanismen sind sehr vielfältig und unterscheiden sich nicht nur zwischen den einzelnen Stoffklassen, sondern mitunter sogar innerhalb einer Stoffklasse bei verschiedenen Effektor-Molekülen oder im Extremfall für ein und dieselbe Verbindung, wenn sie in verschiedenen Lösungsmitteln vorliegt. Gemeinsam ist ihnen, dass am Ende wieder der elektronische Grundzustand der Produkte vorliegt. Im einfachsten Fall hat dabei die Abspaltung des Effektormoleküls bereits stattgefunden. Die primären photochemischen Prozesse sind oft sehr schnell und schon nach Piko- bis Mikrosekunden abgeschlossen.

Teilweise schließen sich nun noch Folgereaktionen an, wenn nämlich die durch Photolyse entstandenen Produkte selber chemisch nicht stabil sind. Dieser Effekt ist z. B. für die Herstellung von caged-Aminen durchaus erwünscht. Mit den Aminen selbst lassen sich nur schlecht caged-Verbindungen herstellen, daher verwendet man dazu die entsprechenden Carbamate. Wenn nach Belichtung aus der caged-Verbindung das Carbamat freigesetzt wurde, zerfällt dieses spontan weiter in CO2 und das gewünschte Amin. Der Zerfall des Carbamates ist langsamer als seine Freisetzung aus der caged-Verbindung und begrenzt damit die Bildungsgeschwindigkeit des Amins.

Auch für das oft verwendete caged-Calcium (Abb. 4) wird eine solche Sekundärreaktion ausgenutzt. In der caged-Verbindung selbst ist das Calciumion als Chelatkomplex gebunden. Die Belichtung setzt das Ion nicht direkt frei, sondern führt primär nur zur Spaltung einer Bindung im Chelatliganden. Der "defekte" Ligand kann das Calcium nicht mehr fest genug binden: er zerfällt in zwei Teile und setzt das Ion in die Lösung frei.

Literatur
 G. Marriott (Hrsg.), Caged compounds, Methods in Enzymology 291, 1998, ISBN 978-0121821920
 C. Brieke et al. (2012) Lichtgesteuerte Werkzeuge. Angew. Chem. 124, 8572-8604
 C. Brieke et al. (2012) Light-Controlled Tools. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 51, 8446-8476

Einzelnachweise

Chemikaliengruppe


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Yesterday's long run was more or less supposed to be a gauge on how my body is feeling. A gauge to see how my body is functioning, if I can continue to train hard, up my mileage and attempt to keep up with some of the big boys. Well, I know that I'm just too slow to actually keep up with them, but being able to talk about the trails, knowing them, having higher mileage to show off—to me that's keeping up.
Notice that I didn't write about running in NYC. I was there for a week and sadly I guess I have to admit that I only went for one 35-minute run. Embarrassing, I know! I KNOW! I did walk a lot! Like, a lot a lot! So that counts as exercise, right? I think so! Anyway, I went from running roughly three miles the week before last, so you'll be as surprised as I was when I counted up my miles this past week—I ran a total (roughly, trail miles are hard to calculate) 35 miles! I've never run that many in my life! Pretty sweet. Sweet, just like my long run with my friend Darcy and her herd of doggies yesterday.
There was one other doggie, but he wouldn't stay still enough for me to get a picture. These girls are like speedy bullets and probably ran twice as far as we did! Ember ran super far ahead of us and then was a speedy bullet on her way back towards us and just about knocked my legs from under me! Pretty sweet dogs if you ask me!
There were a couple really awesome reasons my run was so awesome yesterday morning. First: we started at like 7:30 and the temperature was PERFECT. And we basically had the entire mountain to ourselves. There were a couple mountain bikers but they were cool so that was okay. Sometimes mountain bikers are kinda rude and think they own the trail, but these guys were really nice.
Next awesome thing: we saw a Mama and baby BEAR. Maybe they were hanging out for an early Mother's day, I don't know. But they were HUGE and pretty close and it was amazing to see them!! I was sorta worried about the dogs, but they were fine and the bears just ignored us and walked along on their way.
Conversation. That's the next awesome thing. There's something about running with a good friend that can be more helpful than paying a therapist to listen to you talk. Have you ever had that experience? I feel like some of my best friendships have been formed over long runs.
So, perfect temperatures, bears, good friends and lots of miles. You really can't beat that. Later in the day I tried elevating my legs to recover, I read that somewhere that works and I'm not so into ice baths. So I decided not to bathe and read my book with my legs in the air. But quickly got bored and went to lounge in the sun with some friends and go for a bike ride to the Goodwill. I'm a bigger proponent for 'active recovery'.
My favorite socks: legs up!
I think the bike ride and sun bathing were the best ideas. So far I feel pretty good today. We'll see how I feel after 6 hours working retail. But over all a great running week, pretty stoked on it!!!
Sounds like the perfect trail run!
35 miles! That seems so inconceivable to me -but awesome! Great stories Sloanie!


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Laguna Beach High School students traveled to Molokai, Hawaii, over their spring break for Laguna Presbyterian Church's 12th annual Molokai Mission Trip.
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If confirmed, he said one of his "personal priorities" would be improving the living standards of military families.
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Q: Get pdf file from server and display it in pdf viewer in android I am working on android application. I have my pdf files in ftp server. Now I need to display them in my android application using a pdf reader. Is that possible? How can I achieve this? Please help me in this regard.
Thank you in advance

A: You can download it via FTP and save it on your SD card have a look on how get ftp file with android and this is how you can open it in a PDF reader :
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By Kelsie Gibson
If you're a college student like me, even with your tiny budget, you continue to make monthly payments for the streaming service that is Netflix. Why? Because it's your safe haven when you want to escape from the stress of final exams and ten page papers (or when you want to procrastinate school work). All you have to do is crawl under the covers of your bed, pull out your laptop, and instantly you're watching your favorite movies and TV shows.
But if you're like me, once you get hooked on a new show, you just can't seem to stop. You binge watch it so much that before you know it, you're watching almost five episodes a day and just like that, you're already finished with the series. While you could watch Gossip Girl again for the fourth time, you want to find something new. But there is only so much that Netflix has to offer. While the additions of hits like Gilmore Girls and Friends are great, you wish they had more options. Specifically those shows you grew up watching. You know the ones I'm talking about, the shows that nearly defined your childhood/teen years. As final exam time gets closer and closer, here are some 00s TV shows Netflix needs to get on stream pronto!
Before she was Mrs. Timberlake, Jessica Biel was the daughter of seven in this hit WB show. It was light-hearted and sweet, but it always taught a lesson.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Before there were wizards and warlocks, there was a teen witch named Sabrina (and don't forget her hilarious cat Salem). While the show may be on Hulu, I'd like to binge watch the whole series without the interruption of ads. Can we get on this Netflix?
Sadly, the show only lasted one season, but during that time you were all about those long sweaters and perfecting the iconic Olsen beach waves.
When you could no longer look towards Mary-Kate and Ashley for fashion inspiration, along came the clumsy but totally cute Lizzie McGuire. Not only did the show teach you about mismatch patterns and crimped hair, but it was also filled with important life advice.
That's So Raven
As Disney's other queen, Raven brought sass to Disney Channel, with a little twist. With her notable catch phrases and hilarious acting skills, who couldn't love this show?
Before she was the fabulous actress we all know and love in American Horror Story, Emma Roberts was a middle schooler named Addie Singer. She often sang about about her feelings in her room and even though we couldn't actually play guitar like she did, we totally related.
Jamie Lynn Spears had her breakout moment with this hit Nickelodeon show and soon everyone was wishing they went to boarding school and owned a Jet X scooter.
Before Gossip Girl, there was the O.C., a teen drama centered around four teenagers in Newport Beach with a series of emotional events.
The real Orange County introduced us to huge socialites such as Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari. And let's not forget the popular spin-off series The Hills. Come on Netflix!
Degrassi: The Next Generation
With the trademark "it goes there" Degrassi was known for tackling numerous controversial subjects on TV and we just couldn't get enough it.
Images: Giphy, Tumblr/olsenick


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text:
namespace osu.Game.Configuration
{
    public enum IntroSequence
    {
        Circles,
        Welcome,
        Triangles,
        Random
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home featured Gov. Obaseki linked to Commissioner's arrest in France for $2m laundering
Gov. Obaseki linked to Commissioner's arrest in France for $2m laundering
Edo Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Osaze Osemwingie-Ero, was said to be under arrest in France on suspicion of laundering $2m, believed to belong to the state since November.
Report had also drawn Gov. Godwin Obaseki into the matter claiming Osemwingie-Ero was laundering the said sum on behalf of his principal when he was caught.
Reacting to the report of his active participation in the rumoured act, Gov. Obaseki in a statement his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, released, said he was unclear as to what happened to the Commission for Tourism but if at all he was arrested he (Obaseki) has no connection with the said crime.
The statement read: "We learnt about the alleged arrest of the Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Commissioner, Hon. Osaze Osemwingie-Ero, from unreliable sources on social media and we are unable to confirm either the alleged arrest or what might have led to it.
"But we can confirm without equivocation that whatever the issues might be, they are totally personal and have nothing whatsoever to do with the Edo State Government or Obaseki."
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Sugary sweet candied orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit.
Looking to indulge in the ultimate bathing experience? Yeah, you are.
Parlo's bath bombs are gi-nor-mous. Massive. Huge. Perfect for filling your tub up all the way and soaking away the rest of the world.
Please use caution when exiting your tub, as this bath bomb in all it's hydrating awesome-ness may cause your tub to be slick.


We now are well beyond the year depicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey, a cinematic perspective on the future of artificial intelligence in which HAL 9000, a computer, is able to simulate human behavior and control machines. Anyone reviewing the past two years of marketing around AI in the business technology industry can be forgiven for believing that we have arrived at the futuristic state Stanley Kubrick imagined. We have not.
Mark has held CMO, product development and research roles at companies such as SAP, META Group, Oracle and IRI Software. He has experience across major industries including banking, consumer products, food and beverage, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail and consumer services.


text:
Q: Minimum databinding example with kotlin I went through couple of examples but either they have too many abstractions or out of date tutorials. I would like to implement this feature in the minimum possible way. I need help with the UserForm class here with User passed as arguments in a Navigational Architecture.
Module app build.gradle I've added this
android {
    ...
    dataBinding {
        enabled = true
    }
}

User class
@Parcelize
data class User(var first: String, var last: String): Parcelable

FormFragment.kt
class UserForm: Fragment() {

    private val user by lazy {
        arguments?.getParcelable("user") ?: User("John", "Doe")
    }

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    }

    override fun onCreateView(inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?): View? {
        return inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_form, container, false)
    }
}

fragment_form.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

    <data>
        <variable name="user" type="data.User" />
    </data>

    <androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <EditText
                android:id="@+id/first"
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:ems="10"
                android:inputType="text"
                android:text="@{user.first}" />

        <EditText
                android:id="@+id/last"
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:ems="10"
                android:inputType="text"
                android:text="@{user.last}" />

    </androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

</layout>

Some snippets

A: modify your code below:
FormFragment.kt
class UserForm: Fragment() {

    private val user by lazy {
        arguments?.getParcelable("user") ?: User("John", "Doe")
    }

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    }

    override fun onCreateView(inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?): View? {
        val binding = FragmentFormBinding.inflate(inflater, container, false).apply {
            user = this@UserForm.user
        }
        return binding.root
    }
}

Explanation:

*

*Because you used DataBinding in fragment_form.xml, the corresponding FragmentFormBinding class will be automatically generated

*We usually use XxxBinding.inflate instead of inflater.inflate (layoutid, container, false)

*After FragmentFormBinding.inflate, we bind the user object to fragment_form.xml


text:
Discussion of writing style Review of memoir Review of new book
With love and fatigue from writer and reader – Report from the interior, by Paul Auster
by M. Bijman
No, this is not a second-hand copy with an old, ripped cover. It is how the cover has been designed to look. Published November 19, 2013, hard cover, by Henry Holt and Company, New York, USA.
Paul Auster has been one of my favourite authors for many years, but not one whose name would come directly to mind if I were asked to name an author whose books I "liked". "Liking" is not an emotion that I associate with Auster's books. It is too friendly and mild a term. Bafflement and fascination, as well as irritation and great admiration, would come closer to the mark. I suspect he is something of an acquired taste and once you have gotten into Paul Auster, you are as devoted as a slavering but somewhat puzzled dog. Whatever his motivation for producing Report from the interior, a very strange bit of self-analysis, I would not recommend it unless you are an absolute Auster fan. Read everything else he has written, yes, do! Absolutely! But this one – I do not know whether I am crazy about it or hated it. It is an oddity that you cannot easily fit into a genre, but it is also an impressive demonstration that humans are, sadly, "on one level, no more than meat; and on the other, no more than fiction."
Difficult to fit into a genre
Report from the interior is not a travelogue or tale of exploration like the title suggests. It is the story of a boy, probably Auster himself, growing up, so in that sense it is a Bildungsroman – but it is not a novel. In other words, the "interior" is Auster's own interior, his own feelings and thoughts. I seriously wondered why on earth anyone would write such a thing, when they could write a memoir, or an autobiography, particularly considering how long-lived and famous Auster is. I mean, he would really have something to report on, from his interior, as it were. It is cataloged at the Library of Congress as a "biography" – which raises the question, a biography of whom? Autobiographies are written by a person of themselves, and are written in the 1st person. A biography, on the other hand, is about someone, written by someone else, sometimes with the help of the subject, usually, 3rd person.
This book has the oddest point of view I have ever read, period: it is written in the 2nd person – "you" in other words. It's like looking at someone from a distance, someone else, or perhaps yourself, in the sense that you can refer to yourself in the 2nd person, rather than "I" or "one". But it can also refer to someone else, you over there. Even the footnotes in the book, intended to clarify events, are addressed to "you", as if this person were looking at themselves from a distance and taking stock;
"It puzzles you that you shared the story of sleeping with another girl with the girl you thought of as your girlfriend." (my underlining/italics, p.253, note 21)
It is not so distancing as 3rd person "them" or "they", nor so immediate as 1st person "I" or "me". It is something other.
And who are you?
"For all the postmodern maneuvers, Auster is the least ironic of contemporary writers." Illustration by André Carrilho, in the New Yorker, in an article dated Nov. 30, 2009, entitled "Shallow Graves – The novels of Paul Auster", by James Wood. (Rtrvd. 2016 -09-29)
Who is this person, this " you" who is both the narrator and the main character? He has a name, "Paul", and on the dust-jacket it says that this is Auster himself. But it is the aforementioned distancing and 2nd person narration that made me feel as if he is observing someone else's life. Supporting this is the fact that he refers to other people in the story only by the initials of their surnames, or by their first names, to protect the identities of real people like writers sometimes do in autobiographies. Once only does he use the full, real names of people, explaining that he has stopped referring to them anonymously because "they are ghosts now, and the only thing that belongs to a ghost is his name." (p.205, footnote 11).
At the same time, it is deeply, strangely and uncomfortably personal. I cannot imagine that he could've gotten so deeply into someone else's head unless it were his own head. This is not just recounting or describing someone's life or their growing up. It is the detailed description of someone's deepest most obscure memories, thoughts and feelings from when they were a small child without any formed ideas, or even words, to when they "grew up". These are the thoughts of a writer-to-be, deeply involved in reading everything and anything, and his first attempts at writing, and he is deeply ill-adjusted, awkward, introverted and depressed.
If this person were Auster, one can read his biography on Wikipedia or wherever and get some comfort that he did become a writer and a very successful one at that. But all the same, I was really wondering, as I was wading through these turmoiled thoughts while at the same time looking at this person, the "you", like a bug on a slide under a microscope or as a forensic scientist would dissect a skeleton, why, for the gazillioneth time, would he write this?!
Motivation for the (auto)biography
Firstly, I believe it is something to do with all humans' need to revisit the past, to look back on their lives. All people do – and as Emma Brockes explains in her essay on "nostalgia fatigue", it is nostalgia that is "the potent longing that comes from looking back, from not knowing how everything turned out".
True; trips down memory lane, in books, movies or websites, are based on the notion that triggering old memories makes people feel good. And that is where the wheels come off the theory. Not all memories are good. Nostalgia can lead one up a path to a memory one would rather not have, someone one wishes one would never see again, somewhere one would never want to visit again. Family memories, in particular, can be brutal, and a little bit of nostalgia over old polaroids or a group reminiscence at Thanksgiving can lead to a whole headful of memories of unpleasantness. Nice things yes, but also memories of what life is really like, which is, often, just not so nice. Or less nice than people would care to remember.
Liz Jensen, author of a memoir of a family trauma, Death In the Alps, puts it like this, quoting neurologist Paul Broks:
"Some narratives can be shaped into parables about hope, or about the return of the lost. Not this one. Fiction can heal. But unfinished stories, and our attempts to spin false endings for them in our desperation for narrative order, can kill…In his book Into the Silent Land, the neurologist Paul Broks writes: 'When we see the brain we realise that we are, on one level, no more than meat; and on the other, no more than fiction.'"
More true than that I cannot put it myself: humans have a desperate urge for "narrative order" while at the same time battling nostalgia, the longing for the past. But the brain is the brain, neural networks are neural networks with their limitations, and the rest we make up as we go along, our own little fictions.
To both provide narrative order to his life story and presumably deal with his nostalgia, Auster has taken to doing a deep analysis of the workings of a developing mind, from this boy's earliest baby memories, to him as a toddler, to his angst-ridden years as a teenager deeply influenced by other writers, to his time as a confused young adult in Paris and at Columbia University in New York. And goodness, was he ever a wibbling, self-indulgent little weirdo. Sorry, Mr. Auster, but a charming portrait this is not. The blurb on the dust cover rather uselessly touts that Auster is "answering the challenge of autobiography in ways rarely, if ever, seen before." I agree with the "rarely" part. Rare this is, indeed. The question is again, which challenges of autobiography is he answering? In any case, isn't this a biography, not an autobiography?
Let's assume for the moment that the "you" in question is himself – students of his work would know, so would his publishers. I, as a mere reader, would not. He goes into great detail about things that influenced him when he was growing up. He was deeply affected by films – three are described in agonizingly boring detail in the book. The War of the Worlds (1953), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). It seems that these films contributed to his later love of writing screenplays, however, it is very strange indeed to attribute such deep meaning to commercial products – the result of a bunch of writers making up something together. But, having had such strange obsessions myself (meaning watch one movie tens of times, for years), for instance The Nun's Story (1959), Angélique, Marquise des Anges (1964), and The Great Gatsby (1974), I can understand the inclusion of these pages and pages of descriptions, as well as photos of them at the back of the book.
In terms of addressing nostalgia, the photo section is very much an example of looking back and finding proof that something existed and how it turned out.
Alternative cover design; Picador USA; Reprint edition (May 6, 2014)
So there are pages of photos of historical events, books, films and images that influenced him, but none of him or of his family. Not a single one, unless the cover image of another edition of the book is of him as a boy. The closest you get is a photo of a Beatrix Potter cup he drinks out of, but even that is not actually his cup, it is from a picture collection of the New York Public Library.
From "you" to "I"
He intersperses his life story with extracts from a series of letters addressed to a woman he was involved with, this time writing as "I". She kept all his letters, for reasons I fail to understand. I had also written love letters to a boy when I was in my teens, hundreds of them. I read them years later and they were so cringe-worthy I got rid of them in a literal "bonfire of the vanities". Auster's letters show a hugely self-indulgent and self-obsessed mindset. They are full of literary and political references, but also strange confessions and ramblings. Towards the end of this exhausting and eventually, boring, set of letters, he seemed to be "doing better". He got arrested during the anti-war student riots at Columbia University in 1968, and that apparently got him out of his funk. Prior to that, though he was supposedly improving after falling apart a bit in Paris, his prose in his letters turned surrealist – so much for the return to rationality:
"The equator hangs over the back of the chair, a limp and withered cudgel. The mailman enters. The mailman is a Fatman who carries a dead dog at the bottom of his sack. He says: 'Ever since I got so fat I have swung my two-foot keychain in an ever-widening arc. Soon I'll lasso the globe and eat it as a snack, just as I ate oranges.' Never has laughter so deflated us. We sit on our toilets, sweating with shame. […] Humpty-Dumpty, your most devoted servant, therefore anxiously awaits your return to this corner of the universe." (Letter to Lydia, P.246).
Finally he ends the book with a letter to Lydia, and the words "I have written with love and fatigue." Yes, and the reader has ploughed through this with love and fatigue also. Lots of fatigue. The most loveable words in the book would be the opening paragraphs describing his experience of the world as a very little boy. But even those are tempered with these words: "At least you think you can remember, you believe you remember, but perhaps you are not remembering at all, or remembering only a later remembrance of what you think you thought in that distant time which is all but lost to you now." (p.4) Right from the start, there is that infernal distancing and denial.
This is an impressive achievement in documenting memories, but it is so hard for the reader to get through it. It is achievement enough just to have regained the memories of a childhood through mementoes, letters, cultural markers, memes, recollections, etc., bearing in mind that brain development of cognitive structures, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, make autobiographical memory unlikely before the age of three years. Therefore he says he only covers the childhood years up to the age of 12. It is a major achievement to have been able to put to words the confused workings of a developing brain. But the question is why? Why do it? To prove that we are in many ways all like him in our nostalgia and need for a coherent background narrative? To show how a child turns into a writer? Or to show what made Auster the writer that he is? I feel it is actually an "apologia", more self-justification than self-documentation, despite all the photos.
He says early on: "…exploring your mind as you remember it from childhood will no doubt be a more difficult task – perhaps an impossible one. Still, you feel compelled to give it a try. Not because you find yourself a rare or exceptional object of study, but precisely because you don't, because you think of yourself as anyone, as everyone." (p.4) [my emphases]
So it was his stated intention to describe the "human condition", the state of everyman, as small and young humans. But, Auster is "an exceptional object of study" – despite what he thinks of himself. He, more than many other writers, is justified to write an autobiography. His mind is, like William Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream, such a "seething brain, such shaping fantasies that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends."
(A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare, Act V, Scene I – THESEUS:
"More strange than true: I never may believe
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.")
By choosing such a difficult writing style for this book, he has placed barriers to understanding and empathy between him and readers. On the other hand – that's Auster for you – always a challenge.
Auster has been a prolific writer, and I became a fan mainly because of these works of his:
Auggie Wren's Christmas Story (1990) – Which became Smoke, a 1995 independently produced American film, which was based on the short story and for which Auster wrote the screenplay. It is one of my favourite movies, downbeat, but sweet and subtle and it stars the rough-looking but sexy Harvey Keitel as "Auggie".
Mr. Vertigo (1994) – Which has the only truly convincing description of someone defying gravity and walking on air that I have ever read. As of 2007 Terry Gilliam was writing the screenplay of Mr. Vertigo, but currently the project has not gone into production yet, though there are visualizations on the interweb created by enthusiastic fans.
The Book of Illusions (2002) – Which is like a mystery within a mystery, so that you can hardly figure out what is an illusion and what isn't.
Poster from the film "Smoke", based on Auster's short story, Auggie Wren's Christmas Story.
Originally published 2002, Henry Holt and Company
Originally published 1994, Faber and Faber
"A cult writer since the 1980s, he was recognized already in his early creative years as the "main representative of the psychological thriller", for the labyrinthic, alienating and almost metaphysical portrait of New York in his famous New York Trilogy (1987). [Take the label "cult writer" with a pinch of salt. He might have a fan base but he is neither under-published nor unsuccessful.] Success arrived after ten intense years enriched by experience, enhanced by nomadic journeys through Paris, Dublin, Rome and Madrid, during which he undertook a varied number of jobs, from ghost writer for silent movies to literary critic.
His novels The Music of Chance (1990), Leviathan (1992), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), in addition to those ones of the last decade, such as Man in the dark (2008), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), confirm Auster as an extraordinary poet of an inexplicable world ruled by chance. In the nineties he dedicated himself to cinema: Smoke and Blue in the Face (1995) are two revelatory movies by Wayne Wang, written and adapted by Auster. He also directed: Lulu on the Bridge (1998), and The Inner Life of Martin Frost (2007). In 2013 Auster and [former South African author J.M.] Coetzee published Here and Now: Letters 2008-2011, a correspondence of intellectual reflections about the most oddly assorted themes. In 2015 Spike Jonze directed Mr. Vertigo, based on the same Auster's novel (1994). In Italy his books are published by Einaudi." (Text from Le Conversazione, New York, May 04, 2016)
His Facebook fanpage is here. (Rtrvd. 2016-09-29)
His author page on the Macmillan publisher website is here. (Rtrvd. 2016-09-29)
It says a lot that he has been interviewed by Charlie Rose many times – he is just the type of cerebral author that Charlie likes.(Rtrvd. 2016-09-29)
Auster has been married to Siri Hustvedt, herself an acclaimed novelist and essayist, since 1982.
TagsAuggie Wren's Christmas Story • biography • childhood • development as an author • memories • Mr. Vertigo • Paul Auster • Report From the Interior • Review of Report From the Interior by Paul Auster • Smoke • The Book of Illusions
About M. Bijman
Avid reader, longtime writer of book reviews and literary analyses. Interested in literature, creativity and cognition, language and linguistics, musicology, and technology. Occasionally writes poems and bits of music.
marthebijman.wordpress.com


Kurashiki is located in the west of Okayama prefecture's southern plains. During the Edo period some 350 years ago, the area along the Kurashiki-gawa river was under direct control of the Shogunate government. The trades that took place on the boat helped the town to prosper. The beautiful streetscape of storehouses and merchant homes south of JR Kurashiki station was selected as an Important Traditional Structures Conservation Area by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and it is still protected as the "Bikan Chiku" historical area.
The Ohara Museum of Art is also located in this area. With its world famous collections including pieces by El Greco, Gauguin and Monet, it is the first museum of western art in Japan and it attracts a constant stream of visitors from both Japan and abroad.
At sunset, gentle lights appear along the Kurashiki canal and in the Ivy Square area. Developed under the direction of a lighting designer, this scenic illumination provides a fantastic glimpse into an old Japanese townscape. The lights stay lit until 22:00 from April to September, and until 21:00 from October to March.
when it gets dark, the streets are gently enveloped by soft illumination, making the area enjoyable at night time as well.


Last night I was able to visit a small pond near the house. It is a place I tend to hit more than the rest of the local spots, but for some reason I had not been to since early spring. I threw my small shoulder bag in the truck, and grabbed the 7/8wt CGR.
I immediately noticed the water had an odd character to it? There were no bluegill boils to be seen, and tying on a #6 FBC brought nothing. Not even a small gill short-strike. What I did see though were a few instances of baitfish fleeing, which caught my attention.
Switching over to a Mule Deer Diver proved to be the answer to the riddle. The pickerel were turned on! In a body of water I only tend to bring 2-3 in a season to hand, 5 fish came in a period of maybe 30 minutes.
Each take was as violent as the next, hitting deer hair bug like a rocket and leaving the water completely. In the middle of the pickerel I was able to pick up one bass, yet not a single bluegill was to be seen.
They turned off just as quickly as it began with about 15 minutes of fishable light remaining, But it coincided with the invasion of South Jersey mosquito's so my decision to flee had already been made either way. I noticed as I was half way through de-rigging, the boils on the edges had returned. The sight made me laugh, as I wondered just what life for the pond residents was like for the past hour? Judging by the strikes I managed to get, it must have been a huge sigh of relief when the "ALL CLEAR" was finally given.


When the leaders of one of Macon's premiere Golf Clubs needed to replace an aging telephone system, they turned to Macon's top IT support company, Infinity Networks Solutions, for support and guidance.
Discreetly tucked away on the outskirts of Macon, the Brickyard at Riverside is recognized as one of the finest golf courses in the state of Georgia. Like many businesses and organizations throughout Middle Georgia, the Brickyard relies on technology to help the club with many of its marketing activities, accounting and ensuring that all sales are accurately recorded.
"Everything is done on the computer," said club general manager Luis Pardal. Pardal turned to Infinity Network Solutions to help ensure all of the club's business technology is taken care of.
"Infinity makes a difference," he said.
Hired first to replace the Brickyard's aging telephone system, Infinity Network Solutions assessed all of the club's communication services, which included a thorough analysis of all telephone charges. It also included internal access along with local and long distance services. This exercise ensured that any unnecessary or extra fees were identified, allowing the Brickyard to cut these services and allocate funds to the new telephone system.
Infinity recommended a Unified Communications system, which provided immediate cost savings and improved staff efficiency. The Cisco UC500 system provided the perfect foundation for the Brickyard to better serve members and guests of the club.
In addition to providing a new telephone system, Infinity also vetted new Internet service providers that were offering more reliable and stable connectivity to the Internet. The Brickyard uses its IT systems for many of its marketing activities, correspondence with members and suppliers, and for communication services. A reliable high-speed Internet provider was a must. Infinity upgraded the Internet services from DSL to high-speed cable and now the Brickyard has a reliable connection to the online world.
Infinity Network Solutions continues to provide IT support services for the Brickyard through the I-TAP and I-MONITOR services. This is the perfect solution for the club since it does not employ an internal IT staff. The I-TAP program covers all services and maintenance for the telephone system, and I-MONITOR covers everything else on the computer/data network. This keeps all systems up and running, allowing the Brickyard to take care of members' needs, market the club's brand throughout the state of Georgia and ensure that all financials are up to date.


In December of 2015, a sign stood near the southeast corner of Camelot pond and a burned-out bit of field. Now, a new prairie is in full bloom.
FOND DU LAC - In December of 2015, a sign stood between a walking path near the southeast corner of Camelot pond and a burned-out bit of field.
It read "PRAIRIE Reconstruction Area. 2015 – Site Prep. 2016 – Seeding. 2017 – Prairie." and listed a phone number to call for more information.
At that time, 2017 seemed an eternity away.
Now, the promised prairie not only exists near the pond, but is flourishing.
A new, more permanent sign, reads: "This area has been planted with native wildflowers and grasses, providing diverse habitat for pollinators, birds and wildlife."
Dorothy Messner, a nature enthusiast living next door to the space, took it upon herself to transform the public space into a "wildflower-speckled prairie" for anyone using the trail to enjoy.
Working with Director of Public Works Jordan Skiff and John Redmond of the Fond du Lac Parks and Forestry Department, Messner received the go-ahead in April of 2015. By late May, she worked with Stewart's Landscaping to wipe out the non-native plants and acquired a burn permit in June, to clear the space.
"I'm so thankful that the city approved of the project," Messner said.
Through 2016 and 2017, she battled weeds and got the first seeds planted for the 95 varieties of native plants she hoped to fill the space with. Messner designed the selection in such a way as to ensure flowers bloom consistently from spring through fall.
Presently in their third season, Messner said many of the plants have a more established root-base, and are showing off more flowers than in previous seasons.
Blooming right now — the most showy ones, Messner said — are black-eyed Susans, purple prairie clover and orange milkweed, alongside some coneflower and red milkweed. Next in line are the yellow coneflower and purple blazing stars.
Messner estimates she spends about 20 to 30 hours a week on the prairie, and at the moment, she is squaring off with invading red clover. In previous seasons, she fought wild, yellow parsnip, an invasive species known for its danger to exposed skin.
"A lot of people don't understand how many insects birds need to feed their babies and feed themselves," Messner said, adding that non-native plants don't always contribute to the ecosystem as well as they need to. "All our native plants are what's needed for those insects. It's an important part of how everything relates in nature, its not just a lot of pretty flowers."
Messner is pleased when she sees people stopping along the trail to enjoy the flowers, or taking photos, and says that she'll occasionally chat with people who walk up to her while she's weeding in the prairie.
Assisting Messner in this project were her husband, Bob; neighbor Dave Fellenz; and owner of Kettle Moraine Natural Landscaping in Campbellsport Connie Ramthun, who formerly worked with the Gottfried Prairie and Arboretum. Fellenz assisted with costs, labor, enthusiasm and the placement of a wood chip path between the yard and the walking trail, and Ramthun has offered guidance and donated 16 varieties of seeds for the planting in 2016.
The walking trail, which passes the prairie oasis, may be accessed from Camelot Drive or Knight's Way, and loops around a drainage pond and a small gazebo set north of Club Olympia Fitness and Spectrum.


If you've been to this site before, or you've heard me speak, you probably know that I believe that the secret to not only being more productive, but to living the life you want, comes down to the ability to control your attention. It's a big problem, because first you have to consider all of the external demands on your attention, like your computer, phones, instant messages, text messages, Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook communications, snail mail, email, Skype, co-workers, family, and on and on. But at least those are outside your head. The real problem is that you are probably the person who interrupts yourself the most!
all the things you aren't doing right now.
What you need is a process that can help you handle all of this. You need a way to capture everything, a place to put it, and a method for retrieving it, exactly when you need it. This is how to not only control your attention, but to control your life, and this is exactly what I'll be teaching in my public seminar coming up soon in Austin, TX.
This 90-day program will teach you what you need to know to regain control over all the details of your life, including commitments, communication, and information. Once you've learned how to get a handle on all of these details, your brain will quiet, and your ability to focus will be enhanced. You'll be supporting your own attention rather than sabotaging it. You'll learn the Empowered Productivity System and you'll leave the seminar confident and motivated that you are back in the driver's seat.
If you're feeling a little"too" busy, a little overwhelmed, like things are starting to slip, then check out the seminar. You won't regret it. It's a great time to be in Austin, but if you can't make it, or you'd like to share these ideas with your team, let's talk.


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Zhang Chongyao (born 26 November 1985) is a Chinese wrestler. He competed for China at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's middleweight (-74 kg) freestyle wrestling competition.

See also
China at the 2012 Summer Olympics

References

External links

Chinese male sport wrestlers
Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic wrestlers of China
1985 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Beijing
Wrestlers at the 2010 Asian Games
Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games
Asian Games competitors for China
21st-century Chinese people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


1 OWNER, MINI FSH, VERY RARE!
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guage we build no positive system. But they avail more than abstruse and esoteric philosophies, to exhibit the aspect which the doctrine presents to the great common sense or common feeling of humanity, and to show that the doctrine is by no means so repugnant to natural reason and conscience as its impugners claim. This suffices for our present purpose, which is to show that nature at least presents no valid presumption against the doctrine of the perpetuated existence of the wicked, but leaves the field open and clear for revelation.
Thus we have seen nature attesting most clearly and unequivocally to a future life for all, and an immortal life for the good; and if not as unmistakably and irresistibly demonstrating the endless existence of the wicked, at least she presents no insuperable difficulties and objections. The difficulties attaching peculiarly to this part of the doctrine of immortality, are not so much the product of natural reason or of observation, as of the natural revolt of our feelings at all suffering, and especially at the aspect of immortal sin and woe. We find the doctrine so far from being repugnant to the natural reason and conscience, that it is embodied extensively in the creed of natural religion itself, the world over. Nor do we find it compassed round with logical difficulties different from what attach to facts and doctrines which we know to be true in the present world. We will not therefore pronounce it proven, as in case of the immortality of the good, but not repugnant to nature; indeed, as countenanced by her, though waiting still the confirmation of revelation. The doctrine of immortality generally, for the good as well as the evil, awaited such a confirmation ; first, because, as our whole argument is based on God's being and character, and as these became clouded over by superstition and guile of men, a revelation became needful not only for asserting clearly this doctrine, but for bringing ont that idea of God from which the future life and its destinies must spring:
There was need of revelation also to counteract the impressions of sense, which for all practical effects at least, mastered a world sunk in sensualism. Though men might by reflection arrive at the assurance of a spiritual and endless life, it requires a degree of reflection in order to do it, which is by no means a universal characteristic of mankind, and to whic the vast multitude of men, especially in ruder stages of culture, are indisposed or incompetent. Men to a great extent, therefore, need to be taught this truth positively, expressly, and by living and striking examples, in order to give it requisite power over them. To arrive at it analytically and reflect
ively, so far exceeds the ability or industry of most men, and would be achieved with such feeble assurance, that this great conservative and purifying doctrine could have but slight influence on the masses of mankind.
There was also need of revelation to counteract the terrible and overmastering impressions of the circumstances of death. The form of physical death is most appalling. "All we know or dream or fear of agony," are, to our seeming, gathered in it. It seems like a mortal crisis in being; and the process of dissolution, its loathsomeness and horror, its seeming utter destruction of at least the house and organism of life, and then the utter disappearance of the being from all the ways and interests of this world—all these must have tended powerfully to produce, at least on the unthinking mass, the idea of annihilation—the reduction of the being to utter nothing.
Nothing is more sad and affecting than the utterances which human nature in its fear, sympathy or despondence has given forth under the impression of these outward terrors of death. From the rudest and most cultivated ages alike—in the old Saga and Runic rhyme, in the Orphic lyrics and in Indian and Egyptian myth, and in the elegiac and didactic song of the ancient Arab and the Hebrew, in the poems of Homer and Hesiod, as also of Solomon and Moses, this feeling breaks out on us, often in strains of exquisite sweetness and of ineffable melancholy, the vesper dirge of humanity rising as on the borders of eternal night. Art and fancy, love, fear and sorrow wove thus their cypress wreath over the endless sleep of the tomb; painting, sculpture and music expressed and perpetuated the deep plaint of nature consciously under fate. How sad and despondent the strain that comes down to us from the elder world, even from the muse of Inspiration :
"I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shad. ow of death:
"A land of darkness, as darkness itself: and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness."*
To this responds, more sadly and despairingly still, the dirge of Heathen Poesy.
"The meanest herb we trample in the field,
Or in the garden nurture, when its leaf
** In Autumn dies, forebodes another Spring,
And from brief slumber wakes to life again :
Man wakes no more! Man, peerless, valiant, wise,
Once chilled by death, sleeps hopeless in the dust,
A long, unbroken, never-ending sleep."[
And again :
" Down through that yawning gulf, the grave,
When life's brief dit is o'er,
Shall sink the great, the good, the brave,
Down to the sunless shore,
Where, by the hush of sullen wave,
They sleep forevermore."* Now there was required some direct declaration from beyond that dark "bourne whence no traveler returns;" light from the realm of darkness and shadow of death where the light was as darkness ;" voices coming from the land of the silent; to infuse confidence and animating assurance into the human mind; or to throw over human passion and crime a practical curb in the terror of the judgment to come. To these ends there was needed a revelation; and for these the Spirit spake through the Divine Word, and the great Life and Light appeared among the children of men.
Here, for the present, we leave the argument. If it has accomplished its aim, it has dispelled imagined presumptions and prejudgments of nature coming between the human mind and the inspired oracle of celestial doom. It leaves humanity before a revealed throne of judgment, ready in humble candor and reverence, to hear and interpret the award of Him that sitteth thereon.
The foregoing article has been prepared by an eminent writer at the request of the Conductors of the New Englander, on the proposal of a gentleman in New York, who offered a generous compensation for it, and who intends to republish it with a reply to be written in defense of the notion that the wicked will be annihilated.
In another article, which will probably appear in our next number, the Scriptural argument will be presented.
* Poetry of the Ancients. p. 288.
ART. VII.—NOTICES OF BOOKS.
Select Works of Rev. Thomas Boston, Minister of Ettrick. With a Memoir of
his Life and Writings. Royal 8vo. pp. 784.' New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 1855. Price $2.00.
The writings of Thomas Boston have had a good degree of popularity for more than a century, especially among the Presbyterians of Scotland. Whatever differences of opinion may prevail respecting some of his theological statements, his thoughts for the most part are eminently scriptural, and express the substantial and saving truths of the gospel. Among his first publications was "Human Nature in its Fourfold State," in which the following propositions are discussed : I. What man was in his state of innocence, as God made him. II. What he is in the state of corrupt nature, as he hath unmade himself. JII. What he must be in a state of grace, as created in Christ Jesus unto good works, &c. IV. What he shall be in his eternal state, as made by the Judge of all either perfectly happy, or completely miserable, and that forever. In less than fifty years after the death of Boston, the " Fourfold State" had passed through more than twenty editions ; which fact is evidence of its great popularity and usefulness. It has probably been one of the most useful religious books ever published. It has been a source of instruction, and admonition, and counsel, and consolation to multitudes of many generations. When Boston received the first bound copy of this book, in 1720, he says: "I did, on the morrow after, spread it before the Lord in
prayer, for his blessing to go out with it, and to be entailed on it, while I live, and when I am gone." Thousands can testify to the gracious return of that prayer.
In addition to the "Fourfold State," this volume contains "The Crook in the Lot," illustrating the Divine Sovereignty and Wisdom in the trials of life; "A View of this and the other World;" " Discourses on Prayer," and other occasional sermons. The Christian public are greatly indebted to the Carters for the re-publication of works of this class. Boston's Select Works will prove to be a profitable addition to that portion of every minister's library which he is accustomed to read. Bible Light from Bible Lands. By Rev. JOSEPH ANDERSON, Helensburgh, Scot.
land. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 1856. Price 75 cts.
This is an interesting and instructive book; it verifies, and illustrates, and explains a multitude of predictions, descriptions and allusions, in both the Old and New Testament. The author in his travels throughout the Holy land, made the Bible his guide-book; he sought in the varieties of natural scenery, and in the manners and customs of orien-: tal life, a clearer understanding of those portions of scripture, which refer to national peculiarities, interesting localities, and the conduct and relations of men generally. The book is a useful and entertaining commentary on some of the most significant parts of the Bible, and has therefore to all readers a more permanent value than ordinary books of travel.
The End: or The Proximate Signs of the Close of this Dispensation. By the
Rev. John CUMMING, D. D., London. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co. 1855. New Haven: Thomas H. Pease.
Without subscribing to the peculiar opinions of Dr. Cumming respecting the speedy Advent of our Lord, we can commend this book for its practical instruction on some most solemn and interesting subjects. The author shows an excellent spirit, and illustrates the great truths of the gospel earnestly and eloquently. Most readers will wonder, if they do not smile, at his extraordinary facility in connecting the prophetic utterances of Scripture with historical events, and the remarkable occurrences of the present time. " The Time of the End." By a Congregationalist. Boston: John P. Jewett
& Co. 1856. New Haven: Thomas H. Pease.
The doctrine of this book, or of the Author, is that the advent of our Lord, his personal reign on earth, will precede the Millenium; and that the present time is the period immediately anterior to the ushering in of the new dispensation. It contains essays, lectures, and opinions by eminent divines, who in different ages have endeavored to find the fulfillment of prophecies respecting "The End," either in their own times, or during the present century. We find that more than three hundred years ago, Luther believed that all the signs which were to precede the last day had already happened. Among other signs of the end named by him was this, that " the Kingdom of Rome is declining to its fall." Dr. Cumming now finds an awful, a terrible characteristic of the last days in the increase and spread of Popery. It is not impossible that the Minister of Crown Court may have misapprehended "the signs of the times" as widely as did the Monk of Erfurt. A Body of Divinity : wherein the Doctrines of the Christian Religion are
Explained and defended. By Thomas RIDGELEY, D. 1. A new edition, revised, corrected, and illustrated with notes by the Rev. John M. Wilson. In two Volumes. Royal 8vo. pp. 647, 666. Robert Carter & Brothers. New York: 1855. Price $4.00.
These large volumes embrace the theological lectures of Dr. Ridgeley, delivered to the students of the oldest Independent college in Britain. They were published first in 1731, after he had filled the chair of Theology twenty years ; and are probably the substance of his yearly lectures carefully revised and corrected from time to time, during the period of his professorship. The work is evidently the fruit of earnest and matured thought. On its first publication, it was received with such general approbation in England and Scotland, that a second edition was soon demanded. Since then it has been several times republished in England, and twice in this country.
Dr. Ridgeley adopted the Assembly's Larger Catechism as a sort of directory to the order of his thoughts on the various heads of divinity; though he was not satisfied merely to expand the particular ideas of that summary of truth. He was an independent thinker, and not disposed to receive any digest of doctrines, of his own times, as entirely faultless. In reference to his views of some theological questions, he


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A Really Big Lunch
The Roving Gourmand on Food and Life
Jim Harrison
MP3 CD (3/24/2017)
Compact Disc (3/24/2017)
" A] culinary combo plate of Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, Julian Schnabel, and Sam Peckinpah . . . Harrison writes with enough force to make your knees buckle and with infectious zeal that makes you turn the pages hungry for more . . . Jim Harrison has staked out a distinctive place in the world of food writing."--Jane and Michael Stern, New York Times Book Review on The Raw and the Cooked
New York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison was one of this country's most beloved writers, a muscular, brilliantly economic stylist with a salty wisdom. He also wrote some of the best essays on food around, earning praise as "the poet laureate of appetite" (Dallas Morning News). A Really Big Lunch, to be published on the one-year anniversary of Harrison's death, collects many of his food pieces for the first time--and taps into his larger-than-life appetite with wit and verve.
Jim Harrison's legendary gourmandise is on full display in A Really Big Lunch. From the titular New Yorker piece about a French lunch that went to thirty-seven courses, to pieces from Brick, Playboy, Kermit Lynch Newsletter, and more on the relationship between hunter and prey, or the obscure language of wine reviews, A Really Big Lunch is shot through with Harrison's pointed aper us and keen delight in the pleasures of the senses. And between the lines the pieces give glimpses of Harrison's life over the last three decades. A Really Big Lunch is a literary delight that will satisfy every appetite.
"Harrison is the American Rabelais, and he is at his irreverent and excessive best in this collection." --John Skowles, San Diego Union-Tribune on The Raw and the Cooked
Grove Press, 9780802126467, 272pp.
Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was the New York Times-bestselling author of thirty-nine previous books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, including Legends of the Fall, Dalva, and Returning to Earth. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and winner of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, his work was published in twenty-seven languages.


Meet the new addition to the household, isn't she great? Sarah has been making these as a new project and I loved them straight away. She very kindly let me have pick of the litter before she started selling the ladies elsewhere.
Sarah also sent me a beautiful brooch and one of her own design postcards, her things are just so pulled-together and so her. Some people just seem to have a signature style all of their own. I'm still looking for mine.
If you would also like a gorgeous gal I'm sure Sarah would be happy to oblige if you nip on over to her blog and make contact.
In other, more frightening, news: I got my first Christmas card in the post yesterday. Really. Unless of course it's just a late one from last year, which wouldn't surprise me.


Amongst one of the most widespread electrical wiring questions is on how to wire a switch. While employing switches in the home is kind of easy, wiring 1 might not be that quick for everyone. An ON-OFF switch is actually quite simple to wire. You'll find several types of switches, but for this example, let us say you're installing a single-pole toggle switch, an exceedingly popular change (as well as the most straightforward).
There are actually 3 colours of wires inside of a usual single-pole toggle switch: black, white, and eco-friendly. Splice the black wire in two and hook up them within the terminal screws - one particular on prime and also the other within the base screw from the swap. The white wire serves as being a resource of uninterrupted power and is also commonly connected to a light coloured terminal screw (e.g., silver). Hook up the green wire to the ground screw of your respective change.
These steps would frequently be adequate to create a standard swap function without having a issue. However, in the event you are not self-assured that you simply can accomplish the activity appropriately and properly you greater enable the pros do it as an alternative. Following all, you can find a explanation why this process is among the most popular electrical wiring questions asked by a lot of people.
For many reason, tips on how to wire a ceiling fan can be among probably the most typical electrical wiring queries. To simplify this activity, you may use an individual swap to get a single ceiling fan. To wire the supporter, it really is just a issue of connecting the black wire in the ceiling fan for the black wire of the change. When there is a light, the blue wire should be linked to your black wire of the switch as well.
There are factors why they are the most commonly asked electrical wiring queries. One particular, numerous imagine it can be simple to accomplish, and two, these are definitely the common electrical duties at home. But then you mustn't set your basic safety at risk with your objective to save money. The stakes could even be significantly higher in case you seek to get monetary savings and do an electrical wiring task with out adequate awareness or expertise.


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Education/Youth
Saturday, 18/1/2020
Vietnamese Edition
Edu/Youth
World China's anti-graft drive puts the squeeze on Macau junkets
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China's anti-graft drive puts the squeeze on Macau junkets
Thursday, September 25, 2014 10:22 Email Print
Police probe staff at China business daily, PR firms for graft -Xinhua
Macau tightens Chinese visitor stays in visa-abuse crackdown
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Macau's casino junket operators are feeling the squeeze as China's anti-corruption drive has blown a hole in the world's biggest gambling hub. Some are shifting players elsewhere, like the Philippines and Vietnam; others are quitting the business.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's near 2-year crackdown on corrupt officials and tycoons has hit revenues at Macau's high-rolling VIP lounges, and analysts predict this year could be the worst on record with, at best, low single-digit growth, though 'mass market' gamblers are taking up some of the slack.
The so-called 'big whale' gamblers, who don't blink at dropping HK$1 million ($129,000) on a single bet, are thinner on the ground as China's economy loses steam and eats away at their asset wealth. The junkets - on commission from the casinos to bring in the high-rollers, lend them money and settle their debts - are less willing to extend generous credit terms as it's tougher these days to chase those debts.
And local authorities and those with ties to Beijing are leaning on the junket operators - often informally over a quiet drink or hot pot dinner - to gather information on Chinese officials suspected of corruption who may be laundering money through Macau.
"I can't sleep at night. There are just too many problems," said one 54-year-old junket operator who didn't want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "I'm not optimistic for the future of the VIP junket industry here."
"Beijing isn't directly controlling, but is putting subtle pressure on the authorities here. There's more information gathering, and it's harder now for even low-level (Chinese) officials to come here to gamble."
The Macau-born businessman, who manages VIP tables in Galaxy Entertainment Group's golden turreted Galaxy Macau resort, said he was trying to get out of the business after more than 20 years. He noted other junkets were luring customers to casinos overseas that have greater growth potential - and are further from Beijing's prying eyes.
Of Macau's 220 licensed junket firms, at least 15 have shut up shop in the big casinos this year, according to a recent Daiwa Capital Markets report. The VIP business has traditionally brought in close to two thirds of Macau's gaming revenues - of $45 billion last year, more than seven times those of Las Vegas - but analysts predict that will drop to nearer a half.
"Controlling corruption is part of the business. China wants to help Macau. Both the central and Macau governments are helping Macau grow," said Chien Lee, former chairman and CEO of Iao Kun Group, a junket that has applied to list shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
In June, a high-profile junket boss was interviewed in Hong Kong by Chinese investigators to provide information on Chinese officials gambling in Macau, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
In separate cases, more than half a dozen people operating in the junket business were detained in Wynn Resorts Wynn Macau casino late last year. In April of this year, the wife of Cheung Chi Tai, one of the owners of leading junket Neptune Group, was detained in Hong Kong along with HK$200 million ($25.8 million), local media reported. Cheung Chi Tai, named as an alleged triad member at the money laundering trial of Carson Yeung, the former owner of English soccer club Birmingham City, could not be reached for comment. Hong Kong police say they don't comment on individual cases.
Industry executives say Beijing doesn't want to stamp out the junket industry in Macau - the only place in China where gambling is legal - and is supportive of those operating within the rules and which are transparent about their business.
"The government wants to support Macau. It needs the junkets for Macau to work," said an operator at a leading junket.
Beauty parade
"They're just trying to put a collar on the junkets, not eliminate them," said Steve Vickers, a former commander of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force's criminal intelligence bureau and now CEO of Steve Vickers Associates, a Hong Kong-based risk consultancy. "They want the ability to pull financial levers, so junkets need to be acceptable and under supervision."
Vickers likened the situation to a junket beauty parade, "where some are paraded as winners, and some as losers."
Dore, a former top-10 junket operator, said in June it was quitting the business, stating it "provides limited room for long-term growth development for the group."
The Macau government is encouraging the gambling industry, which brings in over 80 percent of the Special Administrative Region's tax revenues, to diversify. Suncity, a leading junket with interests from property and finance to entertainment and media, was chosen as the official sponsor for the annual Macau Grand Prix, which features Formula Three motor-racing.
The company, led by 40-year-old Alvin Chau, a member of a Chinese parliamentary advisory body, is listing part of its business on the Hong Kong stock exchange through a deal with International Entertainment Corp, a company owned by the family of Hong Kong tycoon Cheng Yu-tung.
An executive at Heng Sheng, another leading Macau junket, said Beijing's anti-corruption campaign was lasting longer and going deeper than expected, and was adding to the pressure from tight liquidity and fragile trust in the industry after one junket agent fled with up to $1.3 billion in April.
The flow of VIP-room revenue in August, at HK$40 billion, was half of June's levels, and Heng Sheng may close its VIP tables at Sands China Ltd's Cotai Central and Venetian casinos, according to an internal sales note made at an investor meeting where the executive spoke earlier this month. A Heng Sheng investor last month announced plans to build a $3 billion casino resort complex on the western Pacific island of Saipan.
While analysts predict VIP revenues could drop by up to a fifth over the rest of this year, casino and junket executives hope a visit by Xi to Macau in December will bolster support.
"Beijing knows it needs to support Macau because if the gaming industry doesn't do well there will be a lot of trouble here. At the same time, Beijing is the one that suffers all the social costs," said the locally-born junket operator.
Britain's Libya intervention flawed, ex-PM Cameron to blame: lawmakers
"The UK's actions in Libya were part of an ill-conceived intervention, the results of which are still playing out today."
China issues highest typhoon alert as Meranti makes landfall
Heroin, nazis, and Agent Orange: inside the $66 billion merger of the year
Rice: aid deal is "win-win" for U.S., Israel
Obama meets Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi
DNC hacked again
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